James weathees



(No Model.)

J. WEATHERS.

LIPTING JACK. No. 388,029. Patented May 15, 1888.

WITNESSES:

UNTTED STATES PATENT EETCE.

JAMES WEATHERS, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

LIFT'ING-JCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 383,029, dated May15,1888.

Application filed March 8, 1888.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, .TAMEs WEATHERs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LiftingJacks, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawlugs.

rIhis invention relates to certain new and valuable improvements inportable lifting- .jacks,which will be fully understood from thefollowing description and claims, taken in connection with the annexeddrawings, in which- Figure l represents a perspective view of myimproved jack complete, and Fig. 2 a side elevation thereof.

Referring to the annexed drawings by letter, A designates the base orfoot piece of the improved liftingjack, and B a standard risingperpendicularly therefrom and rigidly se cured thereto. To the upper endof this standard B, which is rectangular in cross-section, arms orguides a a are rigidly secured, which extend horizontally backward andreceive between them a vertically-movable rack-bar, G, thereby affordingthe upper guides for this bar. To the lower end of the rackbar C arms bb are rigidly secured, which project horizontally forward on oppositesides of the standard B and receive between them this standard, therebyaffording the lower guides for the said rack-bar. The rack-bar G is thusarranged to move up and down in Contact with the back side of thestandard, the teeth of this bar being preferably slightly hooked andpitched downward, and the top of the bar being provided with ahorizontal cap or lift, d, as clearly shown in the annexed drawings.

In combination with the above-described arrangement of the rack-bar andits guides, I employ an auxiliary guide, D, which consists of a longvertical bar, e, rigidly secured between the arms or lower guides, b b,so as to impinge against the front side of the standard B, both aboveand below the said arms. The upper end of the bar e is provided with ahorizontal liftingtoe, f, and the lower end of this bar is provided withan inclined tapered lifting-toe, g, which is especially designed forentering beneath railroad-rails and cross ties Serial No. 266,528. (Nomodel.)

when it is desired to raise'them. It will also be observed that betweenthe toe g and the lower end of the straight portion of the bar e, I forman angular bend which affords a liftingtoe, g', and it will also beobserved that the exftension of the arms or lower guides, b b, affordslifting-toes. I thus provide four lifting-toes on the front side of thestandard, adapted to reach objects at different heights which it may bedesired to lift.

E designates the actuating hand-lever, the bifurcated en d 71. of whichis provided with a transverse lifting-bar, i, adapted to engage with theteeth of the rack-bar G to afford a purchase in the act of lifting thisbar. This lever E is pivoted between the lower ends of two links, G G,by means ofa fnlcrum-bolt,j,which A passes through the bifurcated end hof the hand-lever E,whicl1 end is provided with supplemental bolt-holesk, for shortening the fulcrum of the said lever when required.

The upper ends of the links G G are pivoted by means of a transversebolt, m, to the rear ends of the guides or arms t a, to which bolt isalso pivoted between said arms an angular gravitating pawl, H. rlhelower or heaviest end of this pawl is provided with a hook, n, adaptedto effect a selfvengagement with the teeth ofthe rack-bar C during theact of raising this bar. Above the pivot-bolt m the pawl H has a curvedhandle, p, which extends upward and backward, and by its weight aids incausing an engagement of the hook n with the rack-teeth without the aidof a spring for the purpose.

In operation the rack-bar is lifted by vibrat ing the hand-lever E andcausing the bar t' to successively engage with the rack-teeth, thehooked end of the pawl H automatically engaging with these teeth andarresting the rack bar from casual descent.

If it is desired to allow the rackbar after being elevated to a givenheight to drop, this may be conveniently done by disengaging the bar t'from the rackteeth and by swinging the hand-lever upward with its links,causing this bar to trip the pawl II. If, however, it is desired togradually lower the rack-bar B,With a load upon its upper end or uponeither one of its lifting-toes, this may be done by alternatelymanipulating the hand-lever and the pawl.

ICO

It will be seen from the above description that I employ an auxiliaryguide, D, in combination with the upper and lower primary guides, a b,whereby l maintain a positive steadiness of the rack-bar without unduefriction; also, that I provide this guide D with supplementallifting-toes, located at different distances apart, and also that inoperation the swinging i'ulcrumj of the hand-lever is nearly in avertical plane intersecting the b olt m, thereby obtaining greatleverage with a comparatively short hand-lever.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a lifting-jack, the combination of the standard, the rack-bar, thehand-lever swung by links, and its bar t', adapted to engage with theteeth of said rack-bar, a gravitating pawl,

the upper and lower primary guides, and an auxiliary guide, D, securedto the arms of the lower primary guide,substantiallyasdescribed.

2. The combnation,with the auxiliary guide D, provided with liftingtoes,of the standard B, a rack-bar, G, guided vertically and connected to thesaid guide D, and an operatinglever, substantially as described.

3. The combinatiomwith the rackbar and standard ofa lifting-jack,of anauxiliary guidebar secured to the lower primary guide and provided withlifting-toes above and below this guide, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a liftingjack, of the base A, the standard risingperpendicularly therefrom, the vertically-movable rack bar having hookedteeth, the upper and lower primary guides, the auxiliary guide providedwith lifting-toes at and between its extremities and rigidly secured tothe lower primary guide, the bifurcated hand-lever swung from the upperprimary guide by links and provided with a transverse lifting-bar, t',adapted to engage with the teeth of the rack-bar, and a gravitatingangular' pawl pivoted to the upper primary guide and adapted tov betripped by the said lifting-bar on the bifurcated end of the hand-lever,all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES vl/ EATHERS Witnesses:

H. R. SPRINGSTEEN, MICHAEL CALLIBQAN.

